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Black Engineer of the Year Awards recipients, from left: Raymond Gilstrap, Gilena Monroe, Dr. Malcolm Stanford, Dr. Noreen Khan-Mayberry, Kevin Jones, Aisha Bowe, and Dr. Ousmane Diallo. Credit: NASA
Special Recognition awardee Aisha Bowe with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. Credit: NASA.
Ten distinguished NASA employees have been recognized in this year's Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA). The ten awardees are from three NASA centers and received their awards during a three-day conference Feb. 7-9, 2013 in Washington, D.C.

The Black Engineer of the Year Awards 2013 was hosted by the Council of Engineering Deans at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Lockheed Martin Corporation, US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine and is sponsored by Aerotek. The awards recognize the achievements of African Americans in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and encourage young black Americans to pursue careers in STEM fields.

"At Ames we pride ourselves on our diverse workforce and our inclusive atmosphere," said Dr. S. Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames Research Center, where eight of the ten NASA awardees work. "We recognize that diversification is an ongoing process but it is encouraging to see such a high number of NASA employees winning these significant awards."

The NASA recipients of 2013 Black Engineer of the Year Awards include:

Diversity Leadership in Government award: Dr. Barbara E. Miller, who has been recognized for her tireless work as the Director of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

Senior Investigator Award: John W. Hines, former Center Chief Technologist at Ames, who designed, developed, tested and evaluated space systems and managed advanced technology development programs and projects during an exceptional career at NASA.

Special Recognition Award: Aisha R. Bowe, aerospace engineer at Ames whose work in Next Generation Air Transportation focuses on developing methods to maintain safe separation of air traffic and optimize fuel consumption within an automated system.

Trailblazer awards:

Dr. Noreen Khan-Mayberry, of NASA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at Johnson Space Center, Houston, was the first female and mixed heritage Space Toxicologist. She has conducted research into the health effects of toxicants and toxins on humans during spaceflight. As a medical scientist and a technical expert she serves as a resource for audits and investigations conducted by the NASA OIG.

Ken Freeman, a project engineer at Ames, has successfully implemented information technologies across NASA in varied IT fields for more than 20 years.

Kevin L. Jones, computer engineer at Ames and NASA IPv6 Transition Manager, has been a pioneer in the field of networking at Ames, managed several IT projects for various organizations and is leading NASA's IPv6 implementation efforts.

Modern-day Technology Leaders awards:

Dr. Ousmane N. Diallo, an aerospace research engineer at Ames, focuses on the development of algorithms in support of advanced flight control and air traffic automation.

Dr. Malcolm K. Stanford, a materials research engineer at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, works on complex problems in material engineering especially when they involve extreme environments like high temperatures or the vacuum of space.

Gilena A. Monroe of Ames is the Log Aggregation Tool Lead and Agency Vulnerability Assessment and Remediation (AVAR) Project Manager for the NASA Security Operations Center where she helps meet cyber security needs in the protection of NASA’s technologies and information.

Raymond T. Gilstrap is a network engineer at Ames who focuses on emerging networking technologies for a variety of NASA scientific research and mission support activities. As acting Chief Technology Officer of IT for Ames, he has been responsible for identifying and evaluating key technologies and technology trends with the potential to enhance information technology services for NASA missions, projects, and users.

BEYA is the nation’s largest gathering of STEM professionals and leaders committed to increasing the percentage of underrepresented communities in the technology workforce. Fewer than 700 people have been the recipients of these prestigious awards and 2013 marks the 27th anniversary of officially recognizing black excellence in STEM fields.